OUR STRANGE, AVERAGE SUN

HEY STAR GAZERS, TRACE DOMINGUEZ SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR
AND ASTRONOMY ENTHUSIAST HERE!

OUR SUN IS ALWAYS UP THERE, CONSISTENTLY SHINING
IS WARMTH AND ENERGY ONTO OUR PLANET EVERY

DAY OF THE YEAR FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS NOW

BUT EVEN THOUGH IT SEEMS AS BASIC AS A TUESDAY
ICED COFFEE, OUR SUN IS ACTUALLY KIND OF A

WEIRDO.

LIKE, IN THE BEST WAY.

FOR EXAMPLE: IT S NOT ACTUALLY YELLOW OR
WHITE

IF YOU LOOK AT THE SPECTRA COMING OFF THE
SUN IT S ABOUT 5,800 KELVIN OR GREENISH-BLUE!

WE THINK OF IT AS WHITE OR YELLOW BECAUSE
OF HOW OUR EYES AND ATMOSPHERE SCATTER AND

PROCESS LIGHT

HONESTLY THE SUN IS NOT EVEN THAT BRIGHT:
I MEAN FOR A STAR.

WHEN YOU ARE OUT AT NIGHT, ALL STARS YOU CAN
SEE, ARE BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN.

FROM ALPHA CENTAURI OUR SUN WOULD BE ABOUT
AS BRIGHT AS RIGEL IN ORION APPEARS FROM EARTH.

BUT ALPHA C IS ONLY FOUR LIGHT-YEARS AWAY.

RIGEL IS EIGHT-HUNDRED-SIXTY-FOUR LIGHT YEARS
AWAY, AND THAT STAR IS FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND

TIMES BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN.

NOT TO SAY THE SUN ISN T POWERFUL!

RIGHT NOW THE SUN IS AT A PERIOD OF VERY LOW
ACTIVITY!

WE RE IN A SOLAR MINIMUM!

BUT DURING A SOLAR MAXIMUM THE SUN IS NUTSO.

EMITTING STRONGER MAGNETIC FIELDS, CREATING
SOLAR STORMS AND SPACE WEATHER, AND OF COURSE

PRODUCING POWERFUL EXPLOSIONS OF MATERIAL
LIKE SOLAR FLARES AND CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS

WHICH CAN CAUSE BLACKOUTS ON EARTH S POLES
AND POSE A DANGER TO ASTRONAUTS AND SATELLITES

IN SPACE.

BREATHE IT S ALL PRETTY AMAZING.

THIS IS WHY WE KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON OUR SUN
AND TRACK THE SOLAR CYCLE.

WE DO THIS BY COUNTING THE NUMBER OF SUNSPOTS
ON THE SUN S SURFACE.

FEWER SUNSPOTS, LESS SOLAR ACTIVITY; MORE
SUNSPOTS, MORE ACTIVITY!

SUNSPOTS AREN T ACTUALLY DARK THEY JUST
APPEAR DARKER THAN THE SURROUNDING SOLAR ATMOSPHERE.

BY COUNTING THE NUMBER OF SUNSPOTS, ASTRONOMERS
WERE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE A PATTERN IN SOLAR

ACTIVITY THAT COINCIDED WITH LOTS OF OTHER
ATMOSPHERIC AND SOLAR PHENOMENA -- LIKE AURORA,

WHICH ARE STRONGEST DURING SOLAR MAXIMUMS.

WE RE AT THE END OF THE 24TH SOLAR CYCLE
SINCE WE STARTED KEEPING TRACK IN THE MID-1700S.

WE VE ALREADY SPOTTED THE START OF CYCLE
25 -- AND HOPEFULLY IT WILL MAKE FOR SOME

AMAZING ASTRONOMY FROM A AVERAGE, AMAZING
STAR.

KEEP LOOKIN UP!